Where Poppies Grow [Adventure][War Drama][Bildungsroman]

[Zelan]

I'd be interested in beta reading, but I'm uncertain how busy my schedule is going to get. If it's okay with you, would you mind messaging me once the time comes and I can tell you for certain if I'm available?

[Ark]

Okay, answer time.
First: this is your sprite style? No coloring, just lineart? Y'know, I mean, even if the answer is 'no', this is pretty fitting, I believe.
Second: beta readers. I am interested, but I'm not a native English speaker and my comments (and perception) on whatever I read will be pretty much warped by that.

And as always, best of luck to you.

Good Morning!

Still trying to debate that actually, though right now I think I'm leaning towards them being coloured. I could also see how either would work, however it depends on what I do with the backgrounds. In terms of beta readers, that's fine too, I'll just keep that in consideration. It's more of a gauge to see if I am on the right track or not.

[Ark]

Good Evening!

For those who answered, thank you for your interest! Feel free to PM me if you'd like to beta read the prologue (though be advised the pacing/setting of it isn't as fasted pace as the rest of the novel). I have some general updates for you, for those who are following.

I have a little treat for you folks, those these have actually been sitting on my desktop for a while. I'd like to thank Calypso Games for the hard work he has been doing, please check out his music thread for your music needs!

https://soundcloud.com/calypsogames/torn-world

https://soundcloud.com/calypsogames/drifting-away

I'm still chugging along on ACT III and find myself going back to the earlier portions of the story to make sure it's good. Grammar is my big downfall when I write - so sorry for the typos XD. See you next time!

[Ark]

Good Evening!

Thanks for the all the feedback for the beta readers - good to know that it's been pretty positive so far! Those words are pretty encouraging to know that I'm on the right direction at least. I've been on and off with writing, especially since I need to source a new artist and get some of the other resources rolling for a kickstarter - I'm aiming for a December timeframe but we'll see.

Here are some general updates for those who are interested:

- ACT III is around 10K words and in the works.
- Good feedback on ACT I and the prologue. ACT II just went through more edits.
- Background artist is secured, going through the process of finding a new sprite artist.
- Aiming for a KS date of December or Jan if it all goes well.

For those who are rather ambitious and would like to read the story before it turns into a VN, I'd love to open up ACT II and parts of ACT III for beta reading as well! Feel free to PM me if interested! Thank you all for your time and support and see you next time!

[Ark]

Hello Hello!

Things are chugging along for ACT III, with it around 15K words right now. I'll be over the hump afterwards, as I'm still on the fence on whether to continue beyond an ACT IV or to just have ACT IV be the final journey towards the ending. As of right now, I am still aiming for a late November/Early December KS - that all depends on what resources are available.

I am happy to say that I did find a new sprite artist - so hopefully I'll have new art to give you and potentially mock screenshots in the future! Feel free to DM or reply to this thread for any questions you have, I am happy to answer the ones I can!

[Ark]

Good Evening!

Sorry for disappearing off the map for a while, things have been a bit busy. Here are some general updates:

- Sourced a new artist! I'll update the front page with the new art. Schedule can resume as planned.
- Starting development/picking up the face. Hoping for a December/Jan Kickstarter
- ACT III is over halfway done and will be longer, along with ACT IV. Leaning towards a 40K word ACT III and ACT IV, followed by an epilogue.

Feel free to ask if you have any questions and thanks for following along!

As a special thanks, here's the newest art:

[Ark]

Good Morning!

Some updates for you, some conceptual art, and an almost done sprite! Probably not the most - but at least it's something right? I'll also updated the front page with some of updates as well.

- ACT III complete - one of the longest acts which is sitting at 45K words. Especially when compared to the others (Prologue - 22K, ACT I - 26K, ACT II - 35K).
- Onto the last ACT and Epilogue! Writing is anticipated to be on schedule and over at around... Jan maybe?
- Starting to get art assets in! I'll throw a draft logo and flat colored line up, along with an almost final sprite below. All thanks to Haiyun via Tumblr (http://haiyun.tumblr.com/)

Draft Colored Lineup (WIP)



Beatrice Clementine Sprite (WIP)



Feel free to let me know what you think! I tend to update a bit more on twitter - feel free to DM me there as well!

[Ark]

Good Evening!

I took a bit of a break from writing, but will resume as usual for ACT IV this weekend! Here are some development side updates for those who are still following:

- Publishing and Kickstarter will be done via DEVGRU Productions. They've been awesome in answering all my questions and helping to front a bit of the developmental costs!
- Looking to launch a Kickstarter sometime in the Jan/Feb time frame! As with any other project... always subject to change haha!
- Got some background sketches for you, see them below!





As per usual, feel free to let me know what you think! I know the first post is a bit outdated... that'll be fixed some day!

[Zelan]

Oooh, new title! I like it. ^_^

Your background sketches are beautiful! They definitely look ramshackle and war-torn - very atmospheric. c:

[Ark]

Oooh, new title! I like it. ^_^

Your background sketches are beautiful! They definitely look ramshackle and war-torn - very atmospheric. c:

Thank you thank you! The sketches are actually via Konett here, she's very talented!

[Ark]

Good Morning!

Things are going as usual - however I'd like to drop off a quick mockup! GUI work should be starting now along with the other sprites!



A quick question for you all - when doing a kinetic game like this, what are the backer rewards that you would like to see? Would you rather see stretch goals as more CGs/sprites, or physical rewards such as merch, etc?

Let me know what you think!

[Zelan]

Oh, man, that mockup is beautiful. <3

A quick question for you all - when doing a kinetic game like this, what are the backer rewards that you would like to see? Would you rather see stretch goals as more CGs/sprites, or physical rewards such as merch, etc?

Let me know what you think!

I think a mix of both is good. Physical merch is tough because you have to try and gauge what you would be able to give you your backers and what they would actually be interested in. Extra assets are all well and good, but once every character has a sprite, all of the important scenes have CGs, etc., there's nothing more that you can do.

For rewards: The game itself is pretty much a given. Digital wallpapers tend to be popular, and if you've got an OST those are usually sought after too. Digital artbooks are consistently good while physical artbooks are more hit-or-miss. Art sometimes also comes in the form of a commission from the artist, either of a character in the VN or just of any character the backer has in mind, depending on what you artist would be comfortable doing. Name in the credits is usually somewhere, too.

That's all that I can think of at the moment but I'm sure there are other things that you could do as well.

[Ark]

Good Evening!

Hopefully everyone had a restful holiday! Here are some of the updates I have right now.

- 4 more scenes to write and an epilogue until the script is fully written! Should be done with the script before the kickstarter (including bulk majority of the editing). That puts us easily at 80% done as off right now.
- Trying to get art on pace with starting a kickstarter in Feb, again - subject to availability.

In the mean time, here is some draft line art of Conley Booker. Being the main character and everything being from his POV, he will not have a sprite in game, but will be included in CGs. Let me know what you think and thank you for your time!



Credit to Haiyun!

[Ark]

Good Morning!

Some quick updates, along with a title screen mockup from my GUI artist.

- Act IV will be finished sometime next week, I keep adding scenes when I should have only four left... Right now it's sitting at around 25K words, so by completion it'll be up there with ACT III and Act II for word count.

- Epilogue will most likely be 3-4 scenes as well, however they will be much shorter as well. That being said, I think it maybe safe to say I have to slide the finished writing date to Feb, especially with the fact I am getting eye surgery next week.

- Hopefully I have more art assets to show you, I should have more BGs this weekend along with some more colored sprites after this week.

Without further adieu, here is a mock screen!

[Ark]

Good Evening!

Some updates for you, they are as follows!

- ACT IV is done! It ended up being 40k words, similar to ACT III. Hopefully you guys really enjoy the heart I put into it! With that, the story is officially done! Well, sans the epilogue that wraps things up.
- Only thing left is the epilogue, which I predict will be roughly 5-15K words, much shorter that the previous acts. Really only two or three sceens but it serves to tie everything up.
- Starting to get more GuIs back, hopefully I can give you another mock screen. I promise I'll have more art to show you, just will have to sit tight just like me in the mean time T^T

But yeah, pretty momentous to be pretty much done... After almost a year of writing, it feels weird to say that the story is on the eve of completion. It's looking to be a 200k word novel I think! Let me know if you guys have any questions or comments - I'd love to answer any you have!